


By The Seashore

by TBCat



Category: A.C.E (Beat Interactive Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Gen, Little Mermaid Elements, Mermaids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-12
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-10-08 14:24:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17388017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TBCat/pseuds/TBCat
Summary: Mother always said not to make a deal with a sea witch.





	By The Seashore

**Author's Note:**

> (This is just a short drabble I wrote a while back when the Ocean name was going around for Junhee stans.
> 
> I don't necessarily plan to continue it.)

In a small town by the sea there is a small river that is the inspiration for a small, shameful secret. Every handful of generations, or so it is told, a child is unwanted by its mother. So the child is placed in a basket and set to drift down the river and into the ocean's ever welcoming embrace. Sometimes, that basket avoids being caught in the mud, or the low tide, or the water plants that survive in the briny water of the outlet and reaches the wide, smooth expanse of the ocean where the sand can be seen sparkling below blue water and sea creatures attempt to survive under the blanket of an uncaring goddess. Sometimes, the ocean notices something new that does not belong floating, bobbing, and bouncing in waves that can turn both playful or aggressive in seconds. Instead of an unwanted child drowning, sometimes, a sea witch is born. 

Donghun's mother was very clear when his school hatched; never trust a sea witch. She was also clear in the respectful protocol for negotiating with whales to avoid blood shed, how to intimidate a hunting shark, which prey species where actually poisonous instead of just flavorful, and why human stupidity was so dangerous. Donghun's mother must have been clear, because out of over almost a thousand hatchlings, several hundred still remain.

Donghun thinks that might be because his mother has a tendency to rub his siblings failures in his face. He remembers when she dragged the still bleeding tailfin of one sibling through the reef beds after they got caught in a shark frenzy. He remembers her derisive mimic of one sister’s mangled whale call that led to an orca eating her. He remembers her loud laughter when one sibling finally returned to the hunting grounds after getting lost in the jetstreams and wandering the arctic ocean for a year. His mother is much more nosy, overbearing, and endearingly caring than the average mer-, and Donghun thinks he appreciates the attention if only for the survival advantage it has provided him. 

Donghun does not appreciate imagining the smug, exasperated, and judgemental look on his mother's face as he swims closer to the rocky inlet. Still, Donghun cares more about his curiosity than his mother's tally of surviving children. If the sea witch manages to make Donghun into an example, at least Donghun will be an interesting enough example to be retold instead of forgotten.

Donghun approaches the drop-off, where the sea floor suddenly transitions from smooth sand deep below gentle currents to rocky shallow pebbles under choppy rolling waves. Donghun rides the swell of a larger wave and walks his fingers along the ocean floor as he feels the light of the sun suddenly press so much closer. He knows the stories and his target; Donghun came during low tide to find his position so he doesn't get suddenly beached. He is being smart about this. 

The rocks grow more jagged and become interspersed with the old remains of past storms; the remains of coral and slices of rotten and salted lumber hide among the rocks. Donghun angles his tail to smoothly turn and suddenly the promised outcropping looms in front of him. He hasn't needed to do this since he helped the Reef sink a ship. Donghun grunts with the strain of unused muscles as he grips the wet rock face and heaves himself above the water. If Donghun doesn't capitalize on his momentum he will have to swim back out and gather his courage to ride the next swell of water. 

It works, barely, and with a frantic scrabble Donghun is suddenly lying sprawled along smooth rock with his tail stretching behind him into the water. It is disorienting to feel his skin and scales tighten in response to the bright sunlight, dry air, and lack of water caressing his body. Donghun rolls onto his back and tries to look out of the corner of his eyes for any witnesses to his indignity. He relaxes at the sight of undisturbed waves on one side, and a flat rocky shore on the other.

Then, Donghun begins to feel lightheaded. With an effort Donghun pushes himself to his elbows and gently inclines his body. His head feels like its swimming even though Donghun is definitely not in the water. Oh. Breathing. Donghun takes a purposeful gasp of air through his mouth, and suddenly he begins coughing and sneezing excess sea water as his gills seal shut. His nostrils burn, but Donghun can feel the momentary dizzyness quickly receding as his body adjusts to the alternative source of Oxygen. Donghun isn't sure how the whales stand having to constantly clear sea water out of their system.

Donghun tries to adjust his body on the rocks, but the strong muscles of his tail only splash water into the air instead of propelling him forward. He pushes with his arms instead, and is able to drag his body into a sideways resting position that stretches his torso but doesn't feel awkward on his scales or lungs. Donghun gathers breath into the bottom of his lungs for four measures before he begins. Then he begins singing the majority of his repretoire. Its not a personal mating call, or anything truly of his own composition. Donghun just runs through the clicks, whistles, and trills that the neighboring Dolphin pod taught him represent mindless chatter. Donghun carefully mimics the squeaking and wails that he was able to safely negotiate learning for from passing larger whales. Donghun even shows off one long belt of a song he manipulated out of an orca that had recently gorged on a school of tuna. 

The sun is beginning to tint orange and rest at fifty degress when the sea witch finally appears on the shore. One moment, Donghun is lazily cycling through a Beluga scale he stole from the sibling with a bad sense of navigation, and the next moment sees a four limbed man standing ankle deep in the water several yards from him. 

“Was that an orca song?” he asks. “No wait, are you a mer-?” he doesn’t step closer, nor does he brace himself as the waves crash against and around him. When a bigger wave rushes in, the man sways like a piece of red seaweed. Donghun nervously flicks his tail and settles his nerves with the feeling of salt water against dry skin. The tide is coming in.

Donghun raises an eyebrow at the obvious question before answering the first. Knowing the correct way to brag is an important skill, and a Sea Witch can't be any more sensitive than a whale. “I'm very good at trades; I met an orca who agreed,” he answers. Donghun allows one more nervous flick of his tail, and hopes its hidden by the gentle crash of the next wave. “You're a sea witch, right?”

Donghun doesn't look away from the sea witch. He is ignoring his mother's advice to try and trade with a sea witch, but he isn't going to be so foolish as to let his guard down around one of the biggest predators of the ocean. Donghun counts two blinks in response to his question, but they don't feel magical in any way. 

“Uh, oh, gosh, I mean, yes,” the man stutters, “but maybe just call me Junhee?” The sea witch is standing straight, but they aren't tensed like an ambush hunter. Donghun can probably stike with the flat of his tail or roll away from this position anyway. 

Donghun doesn't offer his name in return; he doesn't know how sea witch magic works. “Do you want to learn the song?” Donghun offers. He smiles mildly and doesn’t move his eyes from the sea witch. 

Junhee still hasn't moved except to sway with the water. His face turns red; Donghun tenses in case it means he is casting a spell. “I don't know how to sing?” the sea witch says shyly. Donghun relaxes; if he sounds embarrased then he is probably just warm-blooded. Donghun tries to remember how many different colors he has seen drowning sailors turn. 

“No problem!” Donghun says! Junhee startles at the enthusiasm, and Donghun immediately freezes. “I would be happy to teach you,” Donghun says carefully, “but I would need your help, in turn.” 

Junhee stares at Donghun with wide eyes and mouth. The setting sun picks out highlights of color from his dark hair, and without being weighed down by water it ruffles wildly like the feathers of a baby bird instead. 

“Is this a trade?” Junhee asks, “I would help you without anything.” Donghun isn’t surprised by the offer for an open favor. It would be rude to make a deal without proper negotiating when they are both strangers. Donghun carefully makes sure his fins aren’t showing any threat posturing.

“Provide me access to and education about the land,” Donghun plainly states the proposed deal, “and I will provide an equivalent education in singing.”

Junhee bites his lips and sticks out the tip of his tongue while thinking. Then he gives an excited wiggle like a young dolphin pup learning how to blow bubbles. 

“Deal,” Junhee agrees. “Do you just want to meet here each evening, or do you actually want a pair of legs?”


End file.
